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Ring juggling
Rings are flat, circular objects, usually big enough to easily be placed around a juggler's neck. Their shape makes it possible to do tricks with them that can't be done with balls and clubs, such as pull downs and pancakes. Most jugglers consider balls to be easier to juggle than rings, but for some people rings are easier because they're lighter and very thin, so they collide less, and they are the easiest prop to collect. Numbers jugglers have been able to flash just as many rings as balls. The earliest known record of ring juggling is from 1528 - a description of a group of jugglers working with wooden rings in the diary of the emperor of Hindustan. The highest number of rings that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 10, and the highest number of rings that have been flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) is 13 (by Albert Lucas). 3 rings thumb|400px|left|3 ring tricks by [[Takaaki Matsumura]]A 3 ring cascade is a little more difficult than a 3 ball cascade, because rings are much bigger than balls, so they have to be thrown higher, and the technique for throwing rings is different from the technique for throwing balls. The IJA had its first 3 ring performance competition in 2007 (winner: Brian Gadomski). 3 is the minimum number of rings allowed in the Beginner, Junior, and Intermediate WJF competitions. The unofficial world record for 3 rings (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 1 hour and 7 minutes by Ameron Rosvall (record from juggling-records.com). 4 rings thumb|400px|left|4 ring double [[Kick-up|blind kick by Jacob Weiss]] 4 rings are most commonly juggled in a fountain pattern (2 rings in each hand). The wimpy pattern is impractical for rings and clubs because of their size, but the reverse wimpy pattern with the rings turned sideways is less collision-prone. The WJF intermediate ring competition allowed a minimum of 4 rings until 2010, when the format for that competition was changed to allow only 5 ring juggling. (The current Intermediate competition format includes moves with 3, 4, and 5 rings.) The unofficial world record for 4 rings (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 48 minutes and 8 seconds by Ameron Rosvall (record from juggling-records.com). 5 rings thumb|left|400px|5 ring competition routine by [[Doug Sayers]]The basic pattern for 5 ring juggling is a higher (and/or faster) version of the 3 ring cascade. 5 is the minimum number of rings used in the competitions in the WJF overall championship. 5 rings was originally the minimum for the advanced ring short program; since 2010 that competition is for 5 rings only. The other 5 ring competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competition; held since 2006) and 360s (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute). The WJF also had an intermediate level 5 ring short program in 2010 and 2011. The unofficial world record for 5 rings (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 26 minutes and 34 seconds by Thomas Dietz (record from IJDb). 6 rings thumb|400px|left|6 ring [[Breakdown|breakdown by Jason Garfield]] The WJF overall championship has included a 6 ring freestyle competition since 2006. In 2008 the overall championship also included a 6 ring 1 minute 360s competition with only 360s in asynch patterns allowed (winner: Thomas Dietz). The unofficial world record for 6 rings (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 4 minutes and 20 seconds by C. J. Smith (record from IJDb). 7 rings thumb|400px|left|7 ring routine by [[Sergei Ignatov]] Until 1984, there were only two divisions in the IJA Numbers Championships - one for 7 objects (competitors could use either 7 balls or 7 rings in the same division) and one for 5 clubs. Since 1984 the IJA has had competitions with a separate division for each prop, where competitors are scored higher for juggling higher numbers. The WJF overall championship has two competitions for 7 rings: freestyle (held since 2005), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2007). The world record for 7 ring juggling is 15 minutes and 6 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON, video). 8 rings thumb|left|400px|[[Isolation|Isolated 8 ring run by Anthony Gatto]] 8 is the minimum number of rings used in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The 8 ring juggling world record is 1 minute and 17 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON). Tricks that have been done with 8 rings include: *Pancake pull down (from qualify) video *Transition from asynch fountain (qualified) to synch (not qualified) to asynch (not qualified) video *Fountain with ring balance (qualified) video *97 (qualified) to one-handed pull down (video) *b777 (to qualify) video - seq15 *Breakdown (to qualify) video *Wall bounce (not qualified) video *6 up 360 (to qualify) video *8 up 360 (to qualify) video *2 connected 6 up 180s (not qualified) video - GE4 9 rings to a collect by Samuel Pauwels]]The first person to win the IJA's numbers endurance competition by juggling 9 rings was Albert Lucas, in 1984. The world record for 9 rings is 235 catches by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON, video). Anthony claims to have done 9 rings for 272 catches. Tricks that have been done with 9 rings include: *Super pancake pull down (from qualify) video *Pull down with head bounce (not from qualify) video *Blind kick start (not to qualify) video *Pull off neck from 8 rings to 9 rings (qualified) video *8 rings with ring balance to 9 rings (not qualified) video *Cascade with ring balance (not qualified) video *Halfshower (not qualified) video *Full reverse for 7 catches (video) *7 up 360 to a collect (video) *9 up 360 to a collect (video) 10 rings thumb|left|400px|10 ring [[Qualify|qualify by Albert Lucas]]Freddy Zay is the first person credited with doing 10 rings. 10 is the highest number of rings that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The following jugglers have qualified 10 rings on video: *Albert Lucas juggled 10 rings for 20 catches in the IJA Numbers Championships in 1996 (the first 10 ring qualify on video), and again in 2002. He later did 26 catches on video (verified by JISCON). *Anthony Gatto currently holds the 10 ring world record with 47 catches (record from JISCON), and claims to have done 64 catches. *Lin Junming (28 catches, video) Francis Brunn, David Lee, Sergei Ignatov, Scott Sorensen, Jason Garfield, and Sam Hartford are also reported to have qualified 10 rings. A few tricks have been done with 10 rings, including a pull down from a qualifying run by Anthony Gatto (video). Pavel Evsukevich has flashed 10 rings while balancing a ring (video), Nikolai Gerasimov has flashed 10 rings while balancing a pole (video), and Anthony Gatto has flashed 10 rings while balancing a club, and done 14 catches of 10 while head bouncing a ball (video). Pavel Evsukevich has also done 12 catches of 10 rings isolated on a chair (video). 11 rings thumb|400px|left|11 ring [[Flash|flashes by Pavel Evsukevich]]11 is the highest number of rings that have been performed onstage. No one has successfully juggled 11 rings in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run, or even qualified 11 rings on video in practice. The following jugglers have all flashed 11 rings: *Anthony Gatto was the first person to flash 11 rings on video, in 1989, using holsters to hold the last two rings. He broke the record in 2000 with 15 catches, and again in 2006, with 17 catches, which is the current world record (from JISCON). He can now flash 11 without holsters (starting with the last ring held between his legs) and has done so while bouncing a ball on his head (video at 1:10). He has also done 11 ring pull downs (video) and performed with 11 rings onstage, and claims to have qualified 11 in practice. *Sergei Ignatov regularly performed with 11 rings onstage (video). He officially tied for the world record (a flash) in 1991, and is rumored to have qualified 11 in practice. *Rudolf Levitskiy (onstage without holsters) video *Willy Colombaioni (video) *Nikolai Gerasimov (onstage without holsters, all 11 launched from his hands) video *Emiliano Fusco (video) *Lajos Nereus (outdoors without holsters) video *Earl Shatford (video) * Pavel Evsukevich (video) *Alberto Sforzi (video only shows the catches, not the throws) 12 rings thumb|left|400px|12 ring [[Flash|flash by Anthony Gatto]]Anthony Gatto was the first person JISCON verified as having flashed 12 rings, in 1993. Albert Lucas is recorded as flashing 12 several years before that, and he officially tied for the record in 1996. Sam Hartford reported to have flashed 12 rings in 2002, but didn't publish the video or submit it to JISCON until 2010. Lajos Nereus also flashed 12 rings in 2010 (video). (Records from JISCON.) Jian Wen Qian claims to have flashed 12 rings, but doesn't have a video. So far no one has done more than 12 catches of 12 rings on video, but Anthony Gatto claims to have done 15 catches, and Albert Lucas is rumored to have qualified 12. There is one other account of someone juggling 12 circular objects: The Banquet by Xenophon describes a girl juggling 12 hoops in ancient Greece. 13 rings Albert Lucas is the only person who has flashed 13 rings. He submitted the video to JISCON in 2002, and he also showed it to jugglers at the IJA festival that year, but other than that the video has never been made available to the public. Albert used a synch 14 ring pattern for 13 rings: (e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,e)(e,0), starting with 8 rings in his hands and 5 in holsters. He claims to have also flashed 14 rings, but he doesn't want to share the video because it doesn't show the whole pattern. Category:Props